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2. The potential of ladle slag and electric arc furnace slag use in synthesizing alkali activated materials; the influence of curing on mechanical propertiesMark Češnovar, Katja Traven, Barbara Horvat, Vilma Ducman, 2019, original scientific article Abstract: Alkali activation is studied as a potential technology to produce a group of high performance building materials from industrial residues such as metallurgical slag. Namely, slags containing aluminate and silicate form a useful solid material when activated by an alkaline solution. The alkali-activated (AA) slag-based materials are promising alternative products for civil engineering sector and industrial purposes. In the present study the locally available electric arc furnace steel slag (Slag A) and the ladle furnace basic slag (Slag R) from different metallurgical industries in Slovenia were selected for alkali activation because of promising amorphous Al/Si rich content. Different mixtures of selected precursors were prepared in the Slag A/Slag R ratios 1/0, 3/1, 1/1, 1/3 and 0/1 and further activated with potassium silicate using an activator to slag ratio of 1:2 in order to select the optimal composition with respect to their mechanical properties. Bending strength of investigated samples ranged between 4 and 18 MPa, whereas compressive strength varied between 30 and 60 MPa. The optimal mixture (Slag A/Slag R = 1/1) was further used to study strength development under the influence of different curing temperatures at room temperature (R. T.), and in a heat-chamber at 50, 70 and 90 °C, and the effects of curing time for 1, 3, 7 and 28 days was furthermore studied. The influence of curing time at room temperature on the mechanical strength at an early age was found to be nearly linear. Further, it was shown that specimens cured at 70 °C for 3 days attained almost identical (bending/compressive) strength to those cured at room temperature for 28 days. Additionally, microstructure evaluation of input materials and samples cured under different conditions was performed by means of XRD, FTIR, SEM and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP).
Keywords: alkali activation, slag, influence of curing regime, FTIR
Published in DiRROS: 13.09.2023; Views: 268; Downloads: 153
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3. Using bridge weigh-in-motion systems to monitor single-span bridge influence linesAleš Žnidarič, Jan Kalin, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: Bridge weigh-in-motion systems use instrumented bridges or culverts to weigh vehicles as they pass over the structures. They also provide data to allow the calculation of several bridge performance indicators. The article starts with the basics of a bridge weigh-in-motion system and briefly describes two key bridge performance indicators, girder distribution factor and dynamic amplification factor, which are also derived from B-WIM measurements. The central part of the article focuses on monitoring of influence lines, the third key parameter that characterises the bridge performance under traffic loads. First, the method of calculating the bending moment influence lines from random heavy traffic is described. A coefficient of rotational stiffness is introduced, which defines the shape of influence lines around the supports as a linear combination of the ideal simply supported and fixed supported influence lines, to allow quantifying the influence line changes. Then the long-term monitoring of influence lines is investigated on four different single-span test bridges. The initial focus is given on the examination of the effect of temperature on the shape of influence lines. Finally, two sets of influence lines are compared on one test bridge, one from before and the other from after replacing the expansion joints and bearings. The work done so far confirms that calculating of influence lines from random vehicles with a B-WIM system is entirely feasible and that differences in their shape can be detected on single-span bridges. What remains to be investigated is the comparison of these differences to the actual damages and under which circumstances the proposed procedure can compete with or better the routine bridge inspection and the conventional monitoring techniques.
Keywords: bridge loading, bridge response, temperature dependency, influence line, monitoring
Published in DiRROS: 12.09.2023; Views: 385; Downloads: 146
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4. Climate, host and geography shape insect and fungal communities of treesIva Franić, Eric Allan, Simone Prospero, Kalev Adamson, Fabio Attorre, Marie-Anne Auger-Rozenberg, Sylvie Augustin, Dimitrios N. Avtzis, Wim Baert, Marek Barta, Maarten De Groot, Barbara Piškur, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Non-native pests, climate change, and their interactions are likely to alter relationships between trees and tree-associated organisms with consequences for forest health. To understand and predict such changes, factors structuring tree-associated communities need to be determined. Here, we analysed the data consisting of records of insects and fungi collected from dormant twigs from 155 tree species at 51 botanical gardens or arboreta in 32 countries. Generalized dissimilarity models revealed similar relative importance of studied climatic, host-related and geographic factors on differences in tree-associated communities. Mean annual temperature, phylogenetic distance between hosts and geographic distance between locations were the major drivers of dissimilarities. The increasing importance of high temperatures on differences in studied communities indicate that climate change could affect tree-associated organisms directly and indirectly through host range shifts. Insect and fungal communities were more similar between closely related vs. distant hosts suggesting that host range shifts may facilitate the emergence of new pests. Moreover, dissimilarities among tree-associated communities increased with geographic distance indicating that human-mediated transport may serve as a pathway of the introductions of new pests. The results of this study highlight the need to limit the establishment of tree pests and increase the resilience of forest ecosystems to changes in climate.
Keywords: mycology, insects, fungus, community of organisms, influence of the host, influence of climate, influence of geography
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2023; Views: 363; Downloads: 208
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